Learn about seismic dangers near California schools

Earthquakes are a fact of life in California, and many schools are near fault lines or other earthquake hazards. That doesn't mean they'll collapse in a quake, but many school construction projects have failed to follow basic safety standards. California Watch uncovered about 20,000 projects that lack Field Act certification. Another state report released in 2002 found 9,659 buildings at about 3,000 schools with potentially dangerous seismic hazards. If you contact your district, please e-mail California Watch at seismic@californiawatch.org to let us know what you have learned.

But the state's data is messy. Names are misspelled. Schools are located in the wrong district, or don't appear to exist at all. California Watch's investigation found about 1,400 "Letter 4" uncertified projects and about 4,500 AB 300 projects at public schools. But about 595 "Letter 4" uncertified projects and about 1,671 AB 300 projects could not be mapped and are not included. You can download more complete uncertified and AB 300 lists here.

Lexington Elementary

19700 Old Santa Cruz Highway Los Gatos, CA 95030

0
projects
matched to this school were on the "AB 300 list," which identifies older school buildings with potentially dangerous seismic hazards that require more detailed evaluation.

0
projects
were listed with "Letter 4" Field Act problems by the state architect's office and were able to be matched to this school.

1
project
was listed with "Letter 3" Field Act problems by the state architect's office and was able to be matched to this school. See below for a list.

Update this listing

This page includes information from the most recent statewide databases available that we were able to match to a school site. But the state's data is messy. California Watch matched as many projects as we could to existing school sites but was unable to match about 595 uncertified projects and about 1,671 AB 300 projects. In addition, school districts may have repaired or torn down questionable buildings without telling state regulators as required by law. Do you know something about repairs at this school? Contact us to update this information.